In 1 Peter 4:10 we receive the following admonition:  "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."  As I have looked over our congregation, I have appreciated how Dirk Wriedt has lived out this verse.  May we learn from his example.

Steve Brandon:  Dirk, what led you to come to Rock Valley Bible Church?

Dirk Wriedt:  Nancy and I had two reasons for coming to Rock Valley Bible Church.  One reason was that I wanted to get away from the suburban rat-race.  But that alone could have placed us anywhere in Northern Illinois. The other reason was that we wanted to help a smaller church with the gifts that the Lord gave us.  We have a desire to belong to a church that takes the “one anothers” seriously and desire to be involved in developing or maintaining the community of the believers in the church.  We talked all of this over with the elders at Grace Church of the Valley and came up with a “No! Don’t leave yet” in the winter of 2002 and a “Go ahead” almost a year later.  The Lord seemed to lead the way in this decision as our house in Warrenville sold in 2 days for the asking price paving the way to move to South Beloit.

S:  I have heard people say that you live so far from the church.  Is that true?

D:  Steve, you are perfectly correct, after all you might drive through the far-away state of Wisconsin to get to our house.  However, the emphasis is on “drive” and not “sit in traffic” as you are experiencing around Rockford.  The people that have graced our home can tell you that it takes about 25 minutes from church (the building) to get to our house.  Just time yourself when you drive around Rockford.  On more than one occasion it took me 15 minutes to get from Sam’s Club to Home Depot which is a
distance of less than ½ mile.  It’s only the perception of being so far.  We are just glad that the roads are paved up here.  And lately they also replaced the carrier pigeons with phones.

S:  How did your move affect your work?

D:  The move has had very little impact
on work.  Since I mostly work out of my home, location does not make a big difference.  To get out of the house and away from the distractions that go along with that, I’m still in the process of building a workshop and office in the back corner of the yard. 

S:  In what ways do you feel gifted to serve within the church?

D: I think the Lord gave me the “gift of miscellaneous.”  What I mean by that is that I want to help in whatever way I can.  Sometimes it means taking folks to the airport, providing a meal and warm place to sleep, or lending a listening ear. Most of the time, however, it shows itself in some form of help in regards to problem solving and construction.

S:  How have you employed these gifts in serving others?

D: Since I’ve been at RVBC I’ve helped tear down a retention wall and build a new one, replaced a couple of sump pumps, helped out teaching someone how to lay hardwood flooring, did some dry walling, electrical wiring and plumbing, surveyed a foundation, hauled leaves, pallets and sand, helped out rebuilding a fire wood shed, roto-tilled a garden, and loaned out my truck and trailer.

S:  Is that all?

D:  That’s about all for the local things.  So you don’t get the wrong impression, we’ve received help from others as well.  People have helped me with building my shop, raising rafters, framing, painting, pulling wire, dry walling.  Folks helped us move, provided meals when we first moved here, and made us feel welcome just to mention a few things.
I also spend some effort helping out missionaries with some of their technical problems.  I’ve worked on some water filtration questions in Ivory Coast, heating problems in Mongolia, a couple of hydro power plants in Papua New Guinea, some drinking water and waste water related work in Missouri and Ontario, water wells in Senegal, pressure tanks and building layouts in Ivory Cost.  I’ve also had fun developing and producing ceiling fans for missionaries with Doug Sosnowski’s help.

S:  Isn't this a burden to you?

D:  I guess you could look at it that way.  But since life is not about me but about the Lord, I prefer to look at it as opportunities to serve and
worship Christ.  I think believers will experience the joy of the Lord in obedience.  One application of that is using the gifts that He has given you to His glory.  In my case I’m obedient if I help people with their technical problems.  I enjoy doing this tremendously and am always looking for people willing to accept help.  I know it sounds silly but frequently folks seem to think it is uncouth to accept help.  By not accepting help you’re depriving others from serving Christ the way God intended them to.  I think it is essential for a functioning church that those with skills to help others rise up to help others, and those in need be willing to receive that help from others.  This doesn’t just apply to my gifts but to other gifts as well.

S:  Doesn't this take a bunch of your time?

D:  It certainly does take time and it takes other resources as well.  But I also think that any form of worship that does not cost you something is not worship at all.  Think of David insisting on buying the building site for the temple rather than accepting it as a gift.
If I want my children to gain a good perspective of serving and worshipping the Lord in daily life I can’t expect that to happen by just preaching to them.  Unless I model it every day they will not grow up to see that life is not about them and their selfish desires but that it is about God.
If I am serious about serving I need to adjust my priorities away from me, myself and I to the needs of others.  It means that I establish goals and principles to live by so that I can be ready to serve at any time.  It means to un-clutter my life so that I have time to serve, which in turn results in my own projects usually being late.

S:  When will your workshop be done?

D:  Well, we’re gaining on it. The workshop can wait,  ... but not too long since there are people ready to use it.